New product offers alternative to toxic deicers

With the U.S. military using nearly 3 million gallons of toxic glycol-based deicer a year in addition to the nearly 30 million gallons of aircraft deicing fluid commercial airlines use, the U.S. Department of Defense looked to Battelle for a more environmentally friendly solution to deice aircraft. Working together, Battelle researchers at PNNL and Columbus, Ohio, developed a safe, biodegradable, nonglycol based product--Degradable by Design DeicerTM or D3.

D3 does not use environmentally harmful additives, reducing its toxicity levels far below other available deicing products. With D3, the biological oxygen demand is half that of standard propylene-glycol-based deicing fluids. The result is an effective deicer that minimizes environmental threats.

D3 has passed independent certification testing and was successfully demonstrated at the McKinley Climatic Chamber at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, using commercial grade equipment under harsh snow and ice conditions. Battelle has filed for a patent for D3 technology and is pursuing partners to move this product into the marketplace.

The Department of Energy's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.